Koi Pond Tops Apple Apps; Developers Get Larger Distribution

Just in time for the holiday season, Apple has helpfully released its lists of most downloaded free and paid apps in gaming, music, utilities, entertainment and social networking categories.

Taking all groups into consideration, the overall top paid apps include: Koi Pond; Texas Hold 'Em; Moto Chaser; Super Monkey Ball and Cro-Mag Rally. The top free apps include: Pandora Radio; Facebook; Tip Tap Revenge; Shazam and Labyrinth Lite.

The top paid utilities apps include: Units; A Level; Air Mouse; Fake Calls and Voice Record. The most downloaded free utility apps include: Flashlight; myLite Flashlight; Say Who Dialer and Units: the MacBox. For a full list of the most popular downloads, go to the iTune store.

Elsewhere on the Apple app scene, SmudgeApps developer Toby Vincent told the iphoneblog that Apple is lending a helpful hand to the cause.

"Apple has finally started allowing us to issue free promotional copies of their iPhone applications," Vincent told the blog. "Devs can issue 50 promotional codes for their application. The codes allow the recipient to download a full copy of the application for free. Codes can only be presently used in the U.S. iTunes Stores by using the 'redeem' link in the App Store."

The promo copies are in addition to distribution via the App Store and 100-device Ad Hoc method universities and beta testers, the site reports, giving developers a boost in distributing and marketing their apps to larger audiences, such as reviewers.

What's good for apps developers is of course good for Apple, which may just rake in $1 billion-plus in 2009 from the Apps Store, as predicted back in June by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

At the time, Munster said his estimates were based, in part, on his assumption that there will be an active App Store user base of 78 million people, including iPod touch and iPhone owners, by the end of calendar year 2009.